The new Apple TV+ series Wolfboy and the Everything Factory features voice performances from producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt and other stars including Archie Yates (Jojo Rabbit), John Lithgow (3rd Rock From the Sun), Christina Militia (DC Superhero Girls), and Lily Williams. Newcommer Kassian Akhtar voices the titular Wolfboy, an imaginative kid who discovers a strange, new world where everything from clouds to time is created. The series is currently available to stream on Apple TV+.
Gordon-Levitt and Yates spoke with Screen Rant about the new series, what inspires them, and embracing the qualities that make you different.
Screen Rant: This is the show I'm going to put on just to get my creative juices flowing. It made me feel so inspired. When do you feel the most creative? What do you do to get out of that Monday brain fog? What are your tricks?
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Wow. That's a good question. To me, it's all about the other people that you're with. If I'm in a rut, it's very hard to get out of it myself. And I'm lucky that I'm around my family. My kids are just endless geysers of creativity.
Actually, Toff Mazery, the creator of Wolfboy and the Everything Factory has been a friend for a long time, and he's such a creative person. I first knew [him] when he joined HitRecord, which is a community I started years ago, that's all about creativity and collaboration. And so it's just been wonderful getting to support him and see this vision of his come to life.
Archie Yates: Really, what gets my creative juices flowing on that Monday fog, as you described, was mainly watching other people's creations with platforms like YouTube, Spotify. I love listening to music when I get ready for my school days. So other people's creations and talents really help me and get me pumped up.
I love how the show also teaches you to embrace the qualities that make you maybe seem odd to others at first. Were you ever told something about you was odd? What was it and how did you learn to embrace it?
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: I remember being in school when I was probably around like... Archie's 12. I remember being 12 and caring about what we were studying, and enjoying reading and stuff like that. And feeling that peer pressure from other kids, or being called a schoolboy, or being made fun of for caring about books and studying and stuff. I do care about books and studying and stuff and I don't think there's anything to be ridiculed about that. I hope and I think that our culture's moving along in a good way where it's more and more seen as a great and cool thing to care about what you're reading and care about the world and want to learn.
Archie, I am very excited to see how creative your character is about to get in the Home Alone reboot. How exciting was that experience for you?
Archie Yates: The Home Alone reboot is a very, very nerve-wracking and yet exciting topic for me because I feel like this is the thing that's going to make me become big in the acting platforms. And I'm really excited because not only does it mean that I get to be a part of an amazing film, but a lot of people are going to start recognizing me now in public. So that is kind of nerve-wracking, but I'm all down for it.
Wolfboy and the Everything Factory is currently available to stream on Apple TV+.